


“I’m not gonna like what you’re planning, am I?”

by InTooManyFandomsRay



Series: 50 DAYS DIALOGUE PROMPTS [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Awesome Leon (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Crack Treated Seriously, Dark Merlin (Merlin), Everybody knows about Merlin's magic, Fake Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Gwaine Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Knights of the round table are besties, M/M, Merlin doesn't know that Arthur knows, Merlin is badass, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Mutual Pining, No doubt about that, Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), POV Leon (Merlin), Protective Arthur, Protective Gwaine (Merlin), Protective Merlin, Protective Sir Leon, Sir leon knows, everybody knows about them except them, like he would go dark if something happened to Arthur, they bet on them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTooManyFandomsRay/pseuds/InTooManyFandomsRay
Summary: Sir Leon doesn't know everything, but he knows 5 things:1. Merlin has magic.2. The Knights of the Round Table know Merlin has magic and have sworn an oath to protect him.3. Arthur doesn't know about Merlin.4. Merlin doesn't know that they know about his magic.5. Merlin is utterly besotted with Arthur and Arthur is completely in love with Merlin.So when the Knights along with Arthur and Merlin are captured by bandits, Merlin will do anything for Arthur. That includes avenging his (faked) death.
Relationships: Knights of the Round Table & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: 50 DAYS DIALOGUE PROMPTS [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129253
Comments: 12
Kudos: 471





	“I’m not gonna like what you’re planning, am I?”

Sir Leon pulled against the ropes that bound his hands. He was testing the strength since there was no knot visible. After struggling to remove his hands from the bindings, he gave up and cast a look around the dungeon. Percival and Elyan were staring solemnly at the iron doors and Gwaine seemed to have come to the same conclusion that he had regarding the ropes and was now slumped against the wall in defeat, glaring at his palm in disdain. King Arthur and Merlin were nowhere to be seen, although it made sense that they would go after the King first. And it was common knowledge that wherever the King went, Merlin would follow. The boy was smitten with Arthur and everybody except those two knew it.

No, what bothered Leon was the fact that Merlin would do anything to free his King, even if it meant revealing his magic. The Knights had known about his magic, obviously. The boy wasn’t really that subtle, there were only so many weak branches in the forest and lucky mishaps. Merlin either knew they knew about his magic and so used it openly, or he was oblivious to their knowledge and was simply a clumsy idiot with less than average self-preservation skills. Leon was confident it was the latter.

He was also confident that Arthur didn’t know about Merlin’s magic. Which was troublesome in situations like these because he was in extreme trouble and Merlin would now probably have to reveal himself to save Arthur, and there was no saying what the King would do. There was no question about the loyalty of the Knights, for they had discussed such possibilities and sworn an oath amongst themselves that they would protect the boy, even from the King himself. But trapped here with no information regarding the location of the King and his servant did cause the worry pooled in his stomach to churn.

It was supposed to be a normal hunt. But then Merlin voiced one of his funny feelings which Arthur dismissed. The Knights shared a look, knowing that Merlin’s intuition was more than often right. As if on cue, they had been ambushed by a horde of bandits. Normally, they could’ve fought them off, but one of the Bandits was clutching a red stone in his palms. Merlin seemed to have recognized it and tried to make his way towards him, but he was too late. The bandit murmured a few words, possibly an enchantment, and the stone had let out a ring of magic which immediately immobilized them. And now, here they were, stuck under the soil in a dingy dungeon, all because of a sparkly stone which was in the wrong hands.

Leon’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of keys and rusted iron being scraped along the floor. He looked up to find Arthur being pushed inside the dungeon, his face bloody but recognizable. The guard who pushed him in had his face covered with dark charcoal, and his eyes gleamed with malice.

Arthur stumbled along and would’ve fallen to the ground had Elyan not been there to catch him and hold him up. As the guard walked away, Elyan settled Arthur to the ground, who let out a pained grunt. His eyes were closed, but Leon didn’t know if he was awake or unconscious.

“Where’s Merlin?” Leon asked, looking at his King, who gave no inkling of even having heard what the Knight said.

“They must be interrogating him now, I suppose. Do you think he can escape?” Gwaine murmured, possibly afraid of Arthur overhearing them.

“He can unless they’ve clapped him in iron.”

Gwaine nodded, his eyes closed. The other knights looked lost, and hopelessness began to sink in. If Merlin couldn’t use magic, they were truly at the mercy of their captors.

“He’s Emrys, isn’t he?” Percival whispered, his eyes wide, as though trying to give them a hint.

Elyan scoffed, “Our Merlin?”

Leon was thoroughly confused. He had no clue who or what an Emrys was, but apparently, it must’ve been important in the Old Religion since both Percy and Elyan knew about him.

“I’m sorry, who’s Emrys? Or what’s Emrys? And what does that have to do with Merls?” Gwaine asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.

“The druids speak of Emrys as the most powerful warlock of all time,” Percy explained. Elyan nodded in agreement.

“Merlin is… Emrys?” Leon asked, just to confirm his suspicions. Percy nodded, but Elyan still looked skeptical.

“If he truly is the most powerful, can he escape iron chains?” Gwaine asked.

Elyan shrugged, and then winced in pain as he rolled his bleeding shoulder, “I think so. But he will need strong motivation to do that.”

Leon mulled it over. He was willing to take that chance. But the strong motivation was very hard to come by when one is having their very essence being drained out from etched iron.

His eyes fell to Arthur’s unconscious form, and slowly, a plan began to form in his mind. Gwaine caught sight of his face and gave out a sigh.

“I’m not gonna like what you’re planning, am I?”

“No, I suppose not,” Leon grinned, “We’re gonna need to up our acting skills.”

\---

It seemed like ages before Merlin came to their view. Thankfully, he saw the forlorn look on their faces the minute he saw them, and the blood seemed to drain from his face.

“What happened? Where’s Arthur?” he asked. Leon noticed that he seemed to be bleeding from the head, and he looked paler than before. His cheekbones seemed to be jutting out more than usual, and his voice was raspy, probably from screaming. He was hunched, and as suspected, his wrists were clasped with iron chains, etched with magical runes.

The knights looked at each other and put on their invisible masks.

Gwaine, who was bleeding the most, cried almost naturally, tears leaving marks on his muddy cheeks, “Merlin, it’s going to be alright, okay?”

Elyan looked like he was going through trauma, which he probably was in reality, and Percy said nothing, just sat there with tears streaming down his pale face. Leon himself was crying, and it wasn’t hard. He just focused on their illusion, and it pained him rightfully so.

Merlin’s lips trembled as he took a step forward. The guard made no attempt to push him in, and just stood there looking at them suspiciously.

“Where’s Arthur? Sir Leon, where is he?” Merlin whispered, and Leon noticed his eyes sparkling with fresh tears. So far, so good.

He shook his head, a portrayal of heartbreak on his face, and stumbled to the side, enough to show Merlin the bleeding face of Arthur. The knights had laid him down, hiding his movement of the chest so Merlin couldn’t see through their lies. He needed the push, as much as it broke his heart.

The guard narrowed his beady eyes. Merlin sank to the floor.

“Arthur?”

A gut-wrenching sob left Gwaine’s lips. The guard shuffled Merlin back to his feet and peered closer to the dungeon gates. The warlock seemed to have gone into shock, eyes not leaving the King’s unmoving body. The air around the dungeon suddenly seemed to hold its breath, as the tension seeped into it.

Leon sent a panicked look towards the others. They knew what was coming. The silence before the storm. He braced himself as the air around him crackled with unkept energy.

The blue in Merlin’s eyes bled into a bright gold, and the shackles around his wrist shook with power. The guard let go of him, taking a step back and stared at him in wary. That concern was soon transformed into fear as Merlin’s magic trickled out of him, gold and silver lightning flashing along his veins. His eyes had a cold and faraway look in them that Leon never wished to see on the boy’s face. The innocence and playfulness were canceled out with the grief and anger that rolled off in waves from Merlin’s body.

It was truly a sight to behold. The very Earth around them began to tremble as Merlin’s magic struck the soiled walls. The runes on the chains that held him glowed, no doubt fighting against the warlock’s magic, but it was no match. It was a cruel trick to play on a close friend, but the only hope of saving their King and themselves was the love the warlock held for him. And that was all the motivation he needed.

Right before all hell broke loose, Merlin’s lips parted, and the words uttered were so devoid of emotion, so dead, they pierced Leon’s heart.

“You killed my King.”

The knights had a second to brace themselves as the chains that held Merlin melted, and his magic exploded in bright light. Leon threw his bound arms up, covering his eyes, and the power expelled flung him behind. Thankfully, he didn’t hit his head on the rocks. When the dust cleared, the guard was but a bloody smear on the wall, and his captors were dead too. No one could’ve survived this attack, except the knights, and Arthur, for they held Merlin’s unquestioned protection.

Leon saw that Merlin had sunk to the ground, tears now flowing freely on his face. Before he could console the falcon, he noticed movement to his side.

Arthur stood up, his ropes falling from his hand, and stared at Merlin with an unreadable expression on his face. Merlin looked shocked, but his shoulders were no longer drawn in with grief but relaxing in relief.

Gwaine struggled onto his feet, no doubt to stand between the King and their warlock, and Leon did the same when Merlin began to speak.

“Arthur, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I was born with magic, and I’ve only ever used it for you, I promise-”

There was a sudden blur of movements and Merlin’s words were cut off with Arthur’s lips on his. The King had surged forward and toppled the Warlock to the ground, and now they clung on to each other tightly. Leon dropped to the ground in relief. Elyan had a smile forming on his face as Percy looked away from the scene, no doubt wanting to give them privacy. Gwaine seemed to be not held back with such restraint as he managed to let out a whistle.

“Finally,” Elyan chuckled and Leon couldn’t help but join in. Soon, they were all laughing and hooting at Arthur and Merlin, who were still wrapped up in each other.

When they finally broke apart, Arthur held his warlock’s face in his hands, and said, “You absolute idiot. You need to be more careful.”

Leon’s face morphed into shock, and he was sure the other knights and Merlin held the same expression.

“You knew?!” Merlin exclaimed.

“Of course I knew! You’re not exactly very subtle with your magic, are you? Not to mention, your shouting matches about your magic with Gaius are very loud,” the King said, slightly cuffing his servant on the head. He looked behind, and glared at the knights, as though challenging them to say anything.

“Sire, we already knew about his magic. That’s why we came up with this plan. We assumed you didn’t know,” Leon explained, and the others nodded, still in shock at the revelation. Arthur narrowed his eyes at them, before switching his attention back to Merlin.

“Wait, let me get this straight. You guys knew,” Merlin pointed back and forth between the Knights and Arthur, “but didn’t know that Arthur knew. And Arthur knew, but didn’t know that you knew?” They simply nodded, still gaping at the scene before them.

“Well, you could’ve let me know!” he screeched, standing up, as Arthur’s arms fell from his side. “It’s not nice to keep secrets from your friends, especially secrets about your friend which your friend doesn’t know you know.”

They stared at him, giving him a chastising look, as his own words sank in.

“Oh. _Oh_. Fair point.”

Now Merlin just stood there looking sheepish, as a blush coated his pale cheeks. Arthur let out a hearty laugh as he pulled Merlin into him again, and the knights just laughed.

“Alright, Leon, you owe me 10 silver coins,” Gwaine said, grinning cheekily at him.

“Gwaine, you owe about 50 gold coins to Gwen,” Elyan pointed out, snickering.

“You bet on us?! I ought to have you all back in the dungeons in Camelot,” Arthur grumbled, still not looking away from Merlin. The knights laughed in unison, not taking the threat seriously because they knew Merlin wouldn’t let that happen.

Their thoughts were confirmed when the sound of a smack echoed in the room, followed by Arthur’s yell, “ _Mer_ lin, it’s treason to hit your King.”

“How about hitting a complete prat?”

“Still treason!”


End file.
